Machine for reducing and planing boards



UNrrnD srATns Param@ critics.

JOHN CUMBERLAND, OF MOBILE, ALABAMA.

MACHINE FOR REDUCING AND PLANING BOARDS.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 4,997, dated March 6, 1847.

To all whom t may concern n Be it known that I, JOHN CUMBERLAND, ofMobile, in the county of Mobile and State of Alabama, have invented anew and useful machine for reducing boards or plank, &c., to an equalthickness and planing and tonguing and grooving the same, and that thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description of the principle orcharacter which distinguishes it from all other things before known andof the manner of making, constructing, and using the same, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, making part of thisspecification, in which- Figure l is a perspective view of the machine;Fig. 2, a longitudinal vertical section of the carriage; Fig. 3, frontview of the standard frame to which the variousv cutters are attached;Fig. 4 back View of the same; Fig. 5, side elevation of the main scoringroller and plane irons attached to their stocks but detached from thestandard frame; Fig. 6, reversed elevation of the same attached to thestandard frame; Fig. 7, separate views on an enlarged scaleof the scoring wheels and cutters for tonguing and groovmg.

The same letters indicate like parts in all the figures.

The nature of my invention consists in passing the board or plank to bereduced and planed lirst under a roller or rollers whose surface iscomposed of a series of sharp edges parallel with the aXis to formcutters which in rolling over the board makes cuts in its surface ofrequired depth and at distances apart equal to the spaces between thecutting edges; and then, in shaving ofl" the projections thus formed bymeans of one or more plane irons leaving the surface smooth,-whetherthese operations be performed by carrying the roller or rollers andplane or planes over the board or plank placed on a permanent platform,or whether this be iXed or connected with a permanent frame and theboard or plank be carried to and by them by means'of a carriage.

In the accompanying drawings (a) represents a permanent frame properlyadapted to the purpose, and (Z2) a carriage sliding on appropriate ways(o, a) and guided in its movements in a straight line, motion beingcommunicated to it by means of a cord or chain (t) attached to it at oneend passing around a roller (s) at one end of the ma/chine thence arounda roller on a horizontal shaft (g) turned by a hand wheel (h), andthence around another roller (s) at the other end of the frame, and thenmade fast to the other end of the carriage. To the top of the carriageis secured by means of adjusting screws (cl, (Z, d) a bed (c) on whichis to be placed the board or plank (k) secured and held by the teeth ofof a permanent and sliding dog (e) and (e) the latter being operated bya clamp screw (6). As the carriage with the board thereon is forcedforward it pass-es under a horizontal roller (2') made of greater lengththan the width of the surface of the board to be planed, and having itscylindrical sur face fluted with the edges thereof made suflicientlysharp to cut into the board to the required depth to reduce it to agiven and equal thickness, which is regulated by elevating or depressingthe bed (c) by means of the adjusting screws. The cutting (or ratherscoring) roller has its bearings running in a frame (7J) connected withthe standard frame (f) by means of screw bolts or other known means.After the board has been thus scored it is brought against the cuttingedge of an inclined plane iron (1) which forms a slight angle with theface of the board and an angle of about 45 degrees with the body thereofwhich is secured by a screw passing through a slot for adjustment to astock (g) attached to the standard frame. After passing this cutter,which splits off the scored part of the board, it is passed under asmoothing plane (15') having the same inclination as the stock of thefirst and attached to a second flanch (u) of the same stock, and thissmoothing plane may, the better to insure a smooth surface, be providedwith a cap or double iron in the same y manner as a hand smoothingplane. Care should be taken to leave sufficient space between these twocutters for the passage and escape of shavings.` The cutting edges ofthese two cutters or planes are set diagonally across the board so as tomake a skew rabbet cut.

For the purpose of grooving the board there is a wheel (Z) turning on avertical stud connected with the standard frame. This wheel has itsperiphery formedrwith a tongue, and fluted in like manner as the scoringroller for cutting into the edge of the board, the scored parts beingthen cut out and the groove completed by a permanent cutter formed tocut the bottom, sides, and edges of the groove. On the other edge of theboard, for forming the tongue there are two wheels (n, n) turning onhorizontal studs placed one above the other and co-nnected with theframe by the standard (m). The cylindrical peripheries of these wheelsare {iuted and reduced to cutting edges like the others, and they areplaced so as to leave between them space enough for the formation of thetongue, the surfaces of which are smoothed off by means of the permanentcutter (x) similar to the cutter (m) except that it is the reversethereof. These wheels and cutters for forming the groove and tongue arearranged on opposite sides and so as to act on the board immediatelyafter the main surface has been acted upon.

It will be obvious from the foregoing that i any known mode of making,adjust-ing, and moving the carriage may be adopted, as this makes nopart of my invention, and that instead of adjusting the thickness of theboard to the cutters, they (the cutters) can be adjusted to the bed onwhich the board is placed. And further, it may be well to observe thatinstead of moving the board to the cutters, this order may be inverted,

and the board be xed on a permanent platform. The number and form of thecutters it will be manifest may be increased or decreased at pleasurewithout changing the principle of my invention.

Vhat I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Lett-ers Patent, s-

1. The method of reducing boards to equal thicknesses or Widths bypassing them under the action of cutting or scoring wheels which cutinto the surface, substantially as herein described, when this iscombined with another cutter or cutters which cuts off the parts scoredor indented, substantially as herein described.

2. And I also claim in combination with this a smoothing plane or planesfor shaving or smoothing the surface, substantially as herein described,and I wish it to be understood that I claim this method of reducing andplaning plank,` boards, &c., whether for planing the surface, tonguing,or grooving, or cutting moldings.

JOHN CUMBERLAND.

Witnesses:

Ro P. VVIZZINZ, y BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.

